Productivity secrets of Google Drive

Posted on Monday July 16, 2018

If you're a regular Google Drive user, you already know how it can make your business more efficient and productive. But are you getting the most out of the service? Not everyone who uses Google Drive is aware of all of its productivity secrets. So we've come up with these five tips to help you better utilize it in your business.

Use keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are all the rage these days, and Google Drive is not immune to this phenomenon. Here are a few that are quite helpful:

• n: rename a selected item
• d: show or hide the details pane
• /: search Drive
• z: move selected item to a folder
• Shift + s: add a new spreadsheet
• Shift + p: add a new presentation
• Shift + t: add a new document

For a complete list of all Google Drive shortcuts, check out the official Google page.

Utilize revisions

Perhaps you want to see the revisions a coworker made to one of your documents. Or perhaps you hate your latest draft and want to recover an older version of it. With Google Drive, it's all possible. Simply open the desired document, click File>See revision history, and all your revisions will appear in a sidebar to the right of the document. Then click on the revision you wish to see. If you'd like to revert to an older version, instead of your current draft, click on Restore this revision in the right sidebar.

Benefit from Suggesting mode

If you're collaborating with another person on a document, Suggesting mode allows you to make suggestions to it without actually changing the text. Your suggestions will be seen by the initial writer, and he or she can then either approve or disapprove of them. To switch to Suggesting mode, click on the pencil shaped icon in the upper right corner of a document. When the drop down menu appears, click on Suggesting (Edits become suggestions).

Share large files

There has likely been an occasion where you wanted to send a very large file to another colleague, friend or family member, and were unable to do so through a free service. Google Drive offers a workaround for this dilemma. To take advantage of it, create a shared folder and upload your file to that folder. Once complete, you can share the file with whomever you wish by right-clicking on it, selecting Share, and then entering the person's email address of who you wish to share it with. They'll receive an email with the link to the file, and can access it from there.

Try Google Drive add-ons

Add-ons have become quite popular with Google Drive. To discover the wonderful world of Google Drive add-ons for yourself, click Add-ons in between Table and Help in the upper menu (above the toolbar). There are plenty of helpful add-ons to choose from, including tools such as writing aids, mind mapping, charts, music notation and more. Once you install an add-on, it will appear in your Add-ons drop down menu.

If you follow these five Google Drive tips, you are one step closer to getting the most out the service. If you'd like to learn how else you can leverage Google's products to better your business, don't hesitate to get in touch with our experts.